Q is for Quantrill's Raiders and the Lawrence Massacre

 

 

Veering off battles I found myself quite fascinated with William Clarke Quantrill.  "The controversy swirls around William Clarke Quantrill. Some people would consider him a patriot of the South, doing his part again Northern tyranny. Others would consider him to be a lawless butcher that took advantage of the disarray brought about by the Civil War to assuage his need for brutality and cruelty. If we judge Quantrill by today's standards, most would agree with the latter description. Historians, however, look at an individual such as Quantrill in the context of his own time. Following is a critical, historical look at this controversial figure.  Read the facts and then you decide....modern day Robin Hood...or monster?  Quantrill was born in Ohio in 1837. He decided to become a schoolteacher as a young man and started his profession. However, he decided to leave Ohio to try and make more money for himself and his family. At this time, Kansas was deeply embroiled in violence between pro-slavery and free soil proponents. He had grown up in a Unionist family, and he himself espoused Free Soil beliefs. He found it hard to make any more money in Kansas and after returning home for a time decided to quit his profession and sign up as a teamster from Fort Leavenworth. His mission was to resupply the Federal Army embroiled in a fight against the Mormons in Utah. During this mission, he met numerous pro-slavery Southerners who deeply affected his beliefs. By the time of his return from this mission, he had become a staunch Southern supporter. He also found that he could make much more money through thievery. Thus, Quantrill began a much less legitimate career. When the Civil War began, he gathered a small band of men and began making profitable hit-and-run attacks against the Federal troops. Quantrill and his men staged numerous raids into Kansas during the early part of the Civil War. He was quickly labeled an outlaw by the Union for his attacks on pro Union forces. He was involved in several skirmishes with Jayhawkers (pro Union guerilla bands) and eventually was made a Captain in the Confederate Army. His attitude towards his role in the Civil War drastically changed in 1862 when the Commander of the Department of Missouri, Major General Henry W. Halleck ordered that guerrillas such as Quantrill and his men would be treated as robbers and murderers, not normal prisoners of war. Before this proclamation, Quantrill acted as if he were a normal soldier adhering to principals of accepting enemy surrender. After this, he gave an order to give 'no quarter'.  In 1863, Quantrill set his sights on Lawrence, Kansas which he said was full of Union sympathizers. Before the attack occurred, many female relatives of Quantrill's Raiders were killed when a prison collapsed in Kansas City. The Union Commander was given the blame and this fanned the already fearsome flames of the Raiders. On August 21, 1863, Quantrill led his band of about 450 men into Lawrence, Kansas. They attacked this pro Union stronghold killing over 150 men, few of them offering resistance. In addition, Quantrill's Raiders burned and looted the town. In the North, this event became known as the Lawrence Massacre and was vilified as one of the worst events of the Civil War." (americanhistory/about.com)  I don't know about you.....but I tend to agree and it is sad that they were associated with the Confederacy at all.

Five Minute Friday: Jump

On Fridays around these parts we like to write. Not for comments or traffic or anyone else’s agenda. But for pure love of the written word. For joy at the sound of syllables, sentences and paragraphs all strung together by the voice of the speaker.  We love to just write without worrying if it’s just right or not. For five minutes flat.

Here’s how we do it:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat on the prompt “After” with no editing, tweaking or self critiquing.

2. Link back to Lisa-Jo's blog and invite others to join in {you can grab the button code in her blog’s footer}.

3. Go and tell the person who linked up before you what their words meant to you. Every writer longs to feel heard.

OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes for the prompt:

JUMP

Go:

I heard the clicking sound of the instructor attaching my harness.  I was single again and at that very moment....wanted to just lay down and die.  I couldn't...and I really wouldn't....but I felt that way.  My life of 23 years had ended....and I am the one who finally did it.  I was on my way back from Tennessee when I saw this sign just outside of Chattanooga that said "Want to Hang glide?"  I found myself leaving the interstate and heading toward the top of the mountain.  I felt myself magnetically drawn into the office as I pulled out my credit card and paid for this "experience of a lifetime."  My heart was pounding   I suddenly needed to use the bathroom.....but it was a little too late for that.  The instructor strapped in behind me and told me to run to the edge of the mountain and jump.  JUMP?  Was he crazy?  I turned a bit and looked him dead in the eye and asked him if he thought I was crazy.  Why would I jump off a perfectly good mountain?   He turned my head toward the edge and told me to give it all I had.  I started to run....and just as I got to the JUMP part....I felt my human brakes kick in.  I stopped within inches of where I was to step off into oblivion.  I sighed....another failure.   I could not even do this right.  The instructor sensing my pain switched places with me and literally drug me off the mountain.  We ran to the edge and continued to run when the edge left beneath our feet.  I had made the Jump.  I closed my eyes tight and prayed that God would be with me until we landed at the foot of the mountain.....then I opened one eye....and experienced God in a whole new way.  I was soaring with the eagles...I had JUMPED.  When I reached the ground and was unharnessed.  I fell to my knees and kissed the earth beneath me.  Life would go on and I would not be afraid to JUMP again.....just not from the side of a mountain.....or airplane.  A calming peace set over me and I knew I was alright.

STOP:

When My Husband Deploys

Deployments. They stink. But I try to look on the bright side of things. Dwelling on being sad will not help the time go by any quicker. So I decided to make a list of things I like to do when my husband is deployed.



Stretch out in bed. Yes, I’m one of those people who enjoy having the bed to myself. Some people are like, “I can’t sleep without my mate!” I’m all, “I won’t be disturbed by man snoring!” Mind you, I do freak myself out at night and then wish he were there to tell me that there are no ghosts in the room with us and no, that ball of cat fur is not a giant spider, ready to attack.



Fart/Stop Shaving. I basically turn into a dude when he’s gone. I mean, I act like a civilized human being when I leave the house (for the most part) but at home I’m in sweats with hairy legs.



Cereal for dinner. I love easy meals! Tom isn’t a fan of them. Meaning, if I ever said, “Cereal for dinner!” he’d be like, “What? I can’t have cereal for dinner!” Or if I said, “Dinner is whatever you can find,” he would seem baffled on what he ought to do. The kids are fine with it though so we have easy meals at least two times a week. Sometimes more.



Watch girly shows and movies. Tom isn’t a fan of a lot of my shows. Grey’s Anatomy bores him, and Downton Abbey baffles him. “I don’t see the point in any of this?” he once said. I can watch my stuff whenever I want. Chick flicks make me laugh which helps take my mind off the fact that he’ll be gone for awhile.




Know that with each day that passes brings it closer to him coming home. Some days are harder than others and I just tell myself, “It’ll pass. Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it.” Yes, that’s totally a line from Anne of Green Gables.

P is for Paducah

 

 

"Shortly after noon on March 25, 1864, Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest and 2,800 of his cavalrymen, having ridden 100 miles in 50 hours, suddenly descended on the Ohio River town of Paducah, KY. They were on another of their slashing raids deep into Yankee territory with the mission of recruiting men and capturing and destroying Union supplies. Col. Stephen G. Hicks, commander of the important Union supply depot, withdrew with his 665 men into Fort Anderson, a strong eastern fort west of town. Two Union gunboats in the river helped defend the fort. Forrest sent his usual demand for surrender to Hicks: "If you surrender, you shall be treated as prisoners of war; but if I have to storm your works, you may expect no quarter." Forrest was not disappointed that Hicks declined to surrender; he just wanted the large quantity of supplies at Paducah. He ordered some of his men to keep the Yankees penned down inside the fort while the rest collected or destroyed the Union stores. Col. A.P. Thompson, whose hometown was Paducah, disregarded Forrest's command and ordered an ill-advised assault on the fort. Thompson "was struck by a shell, which exploded as it struck him, literally tearing him to pieces." This event, accompanied by a dozen other casualties, ended the charge. While Forrest's men cleaned out the supplies, the gunboats fired into Paducah, not hurting the Confederates but causing considerable damage to the town. Having completed their mission, the raiders rode out of town at midnight. Forrest reported: "I drove the enemy to their gunboats and fort; and held the town for ten hours, captured many stores and horses; burned sixty bales of cotton, one steamer, and a drydock, bringing out fifty prisoners." A few days later the Rebels read a newspaper that boastfully reported that the Rebels had missed 140 excellent army horses that had been hidden in a foundry. Forrest promptly sent a detachment back to Paducah. They again ran Hicks into the fort, found the horses and took them with them back to Mississippi." Fascinating Factoid: While traveling to Paducah, part of Forrest's command, the 7th Tennessee, captured the Union 7th Tennessee at Union City, TN.

Things That Annoy Me Thursday: Gluing

So I admitted to being a NC (non-crafter) last week. And mind you, even though I’m posting this on Things That Annoy Me Thursday, I really wasn’t ANNOYED by the box. I’m just, well, a NC (non-crafter.)

I was amazed at all the fancy boxes people were sending to their deployed spouses. It never occurred to me to decorate a BOX.

I didn’t plan to decorate a box. But my daughter wanted to. For Daddy.

So.

We painted the flaps. Which probably wasn’t the best idea, because the words still showed through. But oh well. (And after stumbling across a crafty blog, she suggested using colored duct tape for the panels. Maybe we’ll send a patriotic 4th of July box and try this.)



I also layered the bottom box with wrapping paper to make it nicer. And I had the kids write on the flaps. Then I got letters and glued those on. (Glue always winds up on me when I use it.)


Here is the box with the presents:




I’m awful at fitting stuff into boxes. I sort of cram everything in there.



And yes, I got my husband a birthday card with a pair of dancing/singing tighty whities on the front.





Decorating the box wasn’t too bad. As you can see, it’s not elaborate at all.

Maybe we’ll do it again.

If Natalie has her way, we certainly will.

Birthday Week Hodge Podge

My birthday was on Monday.  That was also Tax Day, the day Lincoln died, the day the Titanic sank.  What a great day in history.  I am doing A-Z Challenge and have chosen history as my topic.  I was not sure I could work it in with Hodge Podge each week so I decided to just do two separate entries.  Okay-so.....if you're playing along with the Hodgepodge today be sure to add your link to the bottom of Joyce's post by clicking here before you run off to visit the neighbors. Here we go~

1. April 15th is the deadline for Americans to file their state and federal income taxes...my birhtday.......what's a job you do on a regular basis that could be described as 'taxing'?
I'm going with the first thing that popped into my head-laundry. I find that job extremely taxing. It is a never ending job.  It seems that the minute I have it all done.....Frank changes clothes and I am starting all over.

2. I'm participating in the April A-Z blog challenge and the Hodgepodge happens to fall on letter O this week. In keeping with that theme...olives, onions, oysters, okra...of the foods mentioned, what's your favorite O food?
Olives and okra are my two favorite O foods.  I love friend okra and olives stuffed with pimento.
3. What is something memorable you experienced as a child that your own children (or future children/nieces/nephews) will not get to experience?
Using a rotary dial phone with a party line.  It was so much fun to pick up and eavesdrop on the neighbors.  Using a typewriter.  Using a non-electric percolator coffee pot.  These are things I loved as a child.

4. Term limits for our elected officials...your thoughts?

You really don't want me to get started here.  Yes....I believe two terms and you are done.  Politicians like Strom Thurman are ridiculous.  I also believe that once they leave....they leave...period.  No drawing their salary for the rest of their life.  They go back to whatever they did...and draw that salary....and we wonder why we are in debt?

5. On April 18th 1775, Paul Revere made his famous 'midnight ride'....when did you last make a midnight ride? Perhaps the fate of a nation wasn't hanging in the balance, but tell us where you were headed anyway.
We took a midnight ride in Orlando when we were there last Spring.

6. What would freak you out more...a mouse running across your floor or a big fat hairy spider?
I don't like either....but the mouse would be the number one nemesis.

7. I love it when people ask me____________________________.
-about God and my relationship with Him.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
I have joined the ranks of the Duck Dynasty fans.  I love this show.  I love the fact that they pray all together at the dinner table, don't cuss, teach some lesson. Do you watch it and who is your favorite character?  Mine is Jase and Si.

O is for the Battle of Olustee

Most people do not think of Florida as part of the Civil War, but it was.  Northern Florida was the part that actually participated in the Civil War.  On February 20th, 1864, at the Battle of Olustee, the largest conflict fought in Florida during the Civil War took place.  A Confederate force under General Joseph Finegan decisively defeated an army commanded by General Truman Seymour. The victory kept the Confederates in control of Florida's interior for the rest of the war. Olustee was the climax to a Union invasion of Florida a few weeks before. General Quincy Gilmore, commander of the Union's Department of the South, dispatched Seymour to Jacksonville on February 7. Seymour's troops secured the town and began to send cavalry raiders inland to Lake City and Gainesville.

Just behind the troops came John Hay, private secretary to President Abraham Lincoln. Hay began issuing loyalty oaths to residents in an effort to form a new, Republican state government in time to send delegates to the 1864 party convention. Under the president's plan of reconstruction, a new state government could be formed when 10 percent of the state's prewar voting population had taken a loyalty oath. Seymour began moving towards Lake City, west of Jacksonville, to destroy a railroad bridge and secure northern Florida. Finegan possessed only 500 men at Lake City, but reinforcements were arriving. By the time the two sides began to skirmish near the Olustee railroad station, each side had about 5,000 troops. Throughout the day on February 20, a pitched battle raged. The Confederates were close to breaking the Yankee lines when they ran low on ammunition.

When more cartridges arrived, the attack continued. By late afternoon, Seymour realized the fight was lost and he began to retreat. The Yankees suffered around 1,800 killed, wounded, or captured, while the Confederates lost about 900 men. The battle did disrupt the flow of supplies from Florida to other Confederate armies, but it failed to bring about a new state government. Most of Florida remained in Confederate hands until the end of the war.